Efficient microalgae dewatering is a major problem that continuously plagues industrial-scale processing of microalgae metabolites for commercial use. Large scale cultivation of algal biomass is typically produced with a high volume of water, in some cases greater than 95%. As a result, harvesting concentrated microalgal cultures presents a significant economic challenge to industries such as algae-based fuels that are critically dependent on improvement of techniques and practices designed to remove algae from water. What is needed is a technique designed to maximize migration of algal cells to a solvent fraction while simultaneously displacing water in a separate fraction.